It's been some time since my last post and I'm eager to reflect on my self discovery over the last few weeks.
I was lucky enough to be able to train with Sensei Saunders at his dojo in Kent a couple of weeks ago. Obviously we spent a great deal of time looking at the Kihon Dosa. It's no secret that I haven't had years of Yoshinkan Kihon Dosa experience, and spending some time focusing on them as a fundamental exercise was really beneficial.
So what's changed?
Having attended some seminars with Mustard Sensei, and obviously Saunders Sensei, kamae is central to progression. Having spent years practising with and in different styles of Aikido, Yoshinkan does seem (in my humble opinion) to spend more time focusing on shites posture (unlike other systems which may focus more time on breaking ukes posture).
Kamae and kihon dosa are inseparable, and I found this particularly interesting when looking at how the arms should move forward and back during tai no henko ichi. I would often stare at Chida Sensei doing these exercises on YouTube, and although I have no delusions of grandeur, he was clearly doing something (or not) that I was (or shouldn't). So, rather than a large circular movement, where the arm moves outside ones own body line, the lead arm stays the same height as it is in kamae.... economy of movement. This is also true for tai no henko ni.
When performing Hiri no Yosei Ichi and Ni, there should be a strong feeling of cutting. Which was interesting, as I hoped that my 4 years of iai would help with that movement, however, sadly not. This was especially apparent when I slide forward and my elbow shoot out to the side when I bring my hands up. I would typically not do this when I cut in iaido, but I seem to do it when I perform this exercise.
The second point that I got from the session, further confirmed my belief in 'form', which was reassuring. Weaknesses in your form are hard to expose at the certain level in Aikido, as uke can (and definitely shouldn't) have a pre disposed belief that they should just fall down. We spent some time looking at the uke for ikkajo ichi and ni (which I'll cover in a bit), and we did some testing. I covered this before in my ikkajo article, but when you have a strong uke then the need to show jushin mae THROUGHOUT the technique is essential to it's combative success. Strength in the form allows us to continue to focus on relaxing our arms, and interestingly enough, our knees. This is important when drawing up the rear leg either into 60/40 or 80/20. I also now understand how the direction of the technique can be established through the position of ukes shoulders and by following the direction set by the inside corner of the knee (more to follow).
Pedagogically Saunders Sensei Ghost Uke exercise was really useful. Uke should attack with all the mental and physical dynamism of a usual attack, however, they do not touch shite. This means that uke can focus on his form and more importantly where he should be during the technique. I found that I was falling behind during ikkajo ichi and falling too early, and more worryingly pulling away during ikkajo ni, which I think is far more about fear from the impending ukemi that an intentional resistance.
Training with Saunders Sensei and his students was very enlightening and humbling, not just through the exposure of my faults, but their hospitality.
I finally want to discuss an interesting epiphany I had whilst teaching children on Saturday. Mustard Sensei has this brilliant story (one of many) that he tells about his daughter training with a huge Hungarian guy at his dojo. At the heart of the message is being soft. Training with children on Saturday made me consider where the power comes from in the technique, and only by 'listening' with your body though relaxation can we really hear what we should be doing. I found that using a child as uke was really valuable and something that we should all do from time to time. Obviously not with the purpose of smashing them around, but so that we can see how power can be applied without the excessive use of shoulder power.
Train hard and with form. Osu.
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